Non-Christian religions

From 2001 to 2006 there was an increase in people affiliating with
non-Christian religions. These increases are mainly attributed to migrants,
particularly from Asia.

Buddhism

Of Buddhists born overseas, most were born in Asia (91.6%, 34,422
out of 37,590 people).

More than one-third (36.1 percent) of overseas-born Buddhists arrived
in New Zealand less than five years ago.

Hinduism

People affiliated with Hinduism increased by 61.8% (up from 39,798
to 64,392).

Almost 8 in 10 people (78.8%) affiliated with the Hindu religion
were born overseas, particularly in Southern Asia and the Pacific
Islands.

Of the people born overseas affiliating with Hinduism, almost half
(49.8%) had arrived in New Zealand less than five years ago.

Islam

People affiliated with Islam increased 52.6% (up from 23,631 to
36,072).

A similar proportion of people affiliating with Islam (77.0%) were
born overseas, mainly in Southern Asia, but also in the Middle East.

Of the people born overseas affiliating with Muslim religions, almost
half (48.0%) had arrived in New Zealand less than five years ago.

Sikh

The number of people indicating an affiliation with the Sikh religion
increased by 83.0% (up from 5,196 to 9,507).

No religion

The number and proportion of people indicating that they had no religion
continued to increase in the 2006 Census. In 2006, 1,297,104 people
(34.7%) stated that they had no religion, compared with 1,028,052 people
(29.6%) in the 2001 Census.

Younger people were more likely to be recorded as having no religion.
Over 4 in 10 (43.0%) children (aged 0-14 years) were recorded as having
no religion, compared with over 1 in 10 (11.8%) people aged 65 years
and over.

The European and New Zealander ethnic groups had the highest proportions
of people stating that they had no religion, at 37.7% (955,260 people)
and 37.6% (155,268 people), respectively.

People in the Middle Eastern, Latin American and African ethnic grouping
were least likely to state that they had no religion, with 11.0% or
3,651 people in this group giving this response in the 2006 Census.